Tropical Depression Fred weakened slightly as it passed over Cuba last night and earlier today. A forecast issued by the NOAA predicts the tropical depression will strengthen as it passes over the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and then hit the Alabama and Mississippi coastline as a Tropical storm. The storm is currently traveling west by northwest at around 13 miles per hour. There is still some concern that this storm could behave similar to Hurricane Michael which hit the Florida Panhandle in October of 2018. That storm slowed considerably as it turned North, and then gained an incredible amount of strength as it slogged North over the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico in late summer, eventually hitting the Florida coastline as a Category 5 storm.
Tropical Storm Grace is still following Michael, but the NOAA refers to that storm as “poorly organized”, and current projections are that the storm will produce rain and high winds, but online wind maps show a storm that lacks any substantial cone structure.